White House school safety plan at odds with Congress

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders calls on a reporter during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 12, 2018. Sanders answered questions on North Korea, school safety and other topics.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was peppered with questions about why President Trump pushed for age restrictions on assault-style weapons, but has appeared to back off in the school safety plan released Monday.

"The president's primary focus is on pushing through things that we know have broad, bipartisan support or things that we can do from an administrative perspective - that we can do immediately," she said in Monday's White House press briefing.

The Trump administration has rolled out a plan to harden schools against school shooters, including a recommendation to train teachers and staff to use firearms.

In a Feb. 28 bipartisan meeting with lawmakers in response to the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students dead, Mr. Trump suggested raising the minimum age for purchasing some firearms to 21. Mr. Trump then said that members of his party wouldn't take the idea seriously because they're "afraid of the NRA."

"They have great power over you people," the president said to GOP members in attendance. "They have less power over me."

Sanders said that the administration is studying ways to implement such a provision, but the political headwinds are too strong. Such a proposal could not make it through congress, she argued. One reporter pointed out that public polls show overwhelming support for such a measure.

She said the White House is prioritizing ideas it believes Congress will be willing to pass.